


I see; I don't.

by tragakes (lejf)



Category: Terra Formars
Genre: Joseph and Akari have a weirdly UST filled conversation, Multi, References to Joseph/Michelle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 23:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11884989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lejf/pseuds/tragakes
Summary: Joseph and Akari have a conversation about Michelle on the surface of Mars.





	I see; I don't.

**Author's Note:**

> testing 123

Out across the martian landscape, looking up leads the eye to another eye: a solar eclipse blazing in the sky. It’s not as dramatic as an eclipse back home—Mars doesn’t have any moons to blot out the light entirely—it’s simply the Earth, sliding in front of the burning star. It looks further away than ever.

They stop to rest on the bank of a ridge. Injuries from a previous battle with the roaches mean that they have to recuperate. Michelle is severely exhausted although she tries not to show it, sitting down with hidden relief; Akita, meanwhile, is sprawling into the dirt. Joseph is tending to everyone, but there’s no doubt that Michelle takes first priority.

Akari scales up the ridge to stand on watch and overlook the sweeping plains, where the moss has spread like a sea and there hangs an eclipse that reminds him of a roach eye. It’s a ring of yellow, empty and black in the centre where the earth is silhouetted. The symbolism isn’t lost on him. They’re probably being watched from a distance, or, at least, their location is known. An eclipse, a novelty back home, is a sinister image here, as well as a reminder of what they need to go back to. Earth.

If they even manage to return… He turns back to look at the group of them, huddled together, teeth gritted, but obstinately still determined to fight. They’ve been through inhuman amount, but still not enough. When will it be enough? He sees they’re all being offered water and rations, and Joseph is making his way up to Akari, stopping by Michelle to kneel in front of her and declare earnestly that he will take care of her every step of the way. It reminds Akari of Yuriko.  
  
What if Joseph had taken a fancy to one of the other women instead? What if there came an instance where he had to save one or the other, and Michelle wasn’t picked? It would cause uproar. It’s convenient that the woman he _did_ choose is the most… ‘valuable’ in combat and otherwise. Akari loathes thinking like that, but in terms of fighting force, she _is_ the highest woman in the MARS ranking.

By the time Joseph is up there with him, Akari has seen where his thoughts have led. Choosing Michelle was not a convenience; it’s deliberate.

“You see that sun?” Akari says to him. “It’s an enormous roach eye looking down at us. You have that saying, don’t you? ‘Apple of your eye’? Earth is literally the apple of their eye here.”

“We do, but I think that eclipse is a marvel.” Joseph smiles broadly and Akari gives a mock shudder. At least he’d made Joseph some scraps of clothes out of his silk. A huge, naked bulky man grinning earnestly at him would’ve just been perturbing. Honestly, it’s impossible to ignore those muscles. “We’re the only people to have ever seen this! That’s the universe telling us to return and share the experience with everyone.”

“Like that’d be a good party tale,” Akari mutters. “Who would you go back to, anyway? Your clan?”

“Michelle,” Joseph says. And smiles. Akari is assaulted by the sudden desire to shake the man roughly. _Wake up!_ he wants to say.

Instead, he says, “She’s the highest MARS ranking woman here.”

“Oh, it’s a testament to her grand ability.”

“Or is it more like the reason you chose her?”

Those huge shoulders turn. “No. But what partner for the strongest human would be right unless it was the strongest woman?”

“That’s not… that’s not how you choose who you spend the rest of your life with! Playing a roulette game might be more moral than what you’re doing now.“

Joseph heaves a sigh and then places a hand on Akari’s shoulder. Untransformed, Akari feels the heat and size of it starkly, wrapped around his comparatively fragile bone. “When you’re the pinnacle of humanity, some things are expected.”

“Like ego.”

The fingers tighten, almost imperceptibly. “What?” Joseph asks.

“Nothing, nothing. Look, this is what you’re _supposed_ to use.” He reaches out and lets the tip of his finger touch Joseph’s chest, a little to the left. He can feel a heartbeat through the thin silk. “It’s the very nature of what makes us stronger than the roaches.”

“Are you trying to tell me I’m weaker than them?”

“Love is our willpower! It’s the only reason why half of us are still here. Don’t you think it can drown out the roaches’ hate?”

The hand on his shoulder suddenly snaps to Akari’s chin. He jerks back instinctively, but Joseph’s hold is more unbudging than iron. His mind floods with possibilities and echoes of roaches grabbing him similarly. He couldn’t have angered Joseph with that comment, could he’ve? It’s just intimidation.

“We’ve witnessed first hand how the human body can be manipulated. Love is just that. It’s a miracle, but miracles aren’t for everyone.”

“Wh–“ He’s cut off when Joseph’s thumb plunges into his mouth, bumping over his teeth, intrusive and heavy with a distant pang of blood, salty sweat, but that’s swiped away quickly into the texture of skin as it pushes its way to his tongue, pressing against the soft wetness there, plundering every contour of it. Akari has frozen completely still beneath him, torn between biting down and the futility of it, imprisoned by the irrational fear that his jaw will be torn off. Blood. Even transforming wouldn't save him from #1.

Blue eyes are fixed onto his mouth where his lips pillow around that wide finger. “I can get any woman I want. That’s the tragedy. You’re lucky, Hizamaru Akari.”

Joseph pulls away, back to the resting party. His thumb is glistening with spit. Akari coughs immediately as if to hack up the memory of it.

A cloud passes over the sun; whatever Akari has seen is obscured again, whether it was the darkness, or else the light. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> test run for these two. might consider an actual couple thousand later once i catch up to the manga


End file.
